Memories of Dahlia
by Iris C
Summary: Yaten and Minako. A year later. A conversation on the rooftop of Juuban High.


Memories of Dahlia

Feeling positively Minako today, she was, and that meant pulling on an orange sun dress and slipping into green sandals. It was an outfit only she could pull off, some might say, and as she pursed her lips together once more to even out the lipstick, she thought she saw a hint of beauty there in the mirror. Maybe in another life, she could have been an idol, could have had her face plastered on magazine covers, could have had a stylist who knew better than to go with an orange and green assemble. But in this life, she was Minako Aino: princess, warrior, goddess, leader, or something like that.

She left the cat home. Artemis looked content in his den. In the years he's been with her, his internal clock had learned to sync to hers, and on perfectly good Sunday mornings, she was usually in bed until after high noon. Not today though. Minako checked her heart-shaped watch and frowned just a bit. Today her mission was to be there early, and Aino Minako treated missions with an unwavering sense of obligation and pride.

Stepping out from the house, Minako secured her knapsack then hopped onto her bike and rode fast. Minako thought of Haruka, thought of her speed and grace, and how if she were here now, how she would make her older friend eat her dust. But she doesn't see much of Haruka anymore. Ironically, this may have been a consequence of peace. Whereas before when the elder senshi appeared in her life, it usually meant war, catastrophe, apocalypse, in that order.

Minako turned a sharp corner, a grin etched on her lips. Now, would it be unkind, immoral, pathetic of her to miss it, just a little?

Yes, probably. Everyone else seemed to be getting along fine. Usagi was enjoying her time as a perfectly clumsy housewife while she and Mamoru waited to become the king and queen of the world. They deserve all the precious time they have. Ami had her books, and now finally the time to enroll in a PhD program at Todai. Rei was still Rei, hotheaded and stubborn, but now that she dedicated all her time to the temple, Minako realized just how much more mature Rei was than all of them. At heart, Rei was calm. Rei was at peace. Rei reminded Minako of a rock garden on a quiet, snowy day. As for Mako-chan, she'd opened a bakery shop of her dreams, and frequently invited Minako to be a taste tester for new concoctions.

Dreams. In one way or another, they were all fulfilling their childhood dreams. Usagi a wife. Rei-chan the high priestess. Ami the doctor. Makoto a chef. In what little time they have, where did they get their energy?

All Minako wanted was to go back to high school, go back to Wednesday study sessions, go back to volleyball, go back to boy crushes and silliness, go back to when she had a purpose.

Juuban high stood in front of her once again. The same as it had always been. Minako locked her bike and inspected her surroundings to make sure no one was around. Then she leaped onto the rooftop. It was empty there as well as she huffed disappointingly.

Now all there left to do was wait. She was prepared for this, and unfurled a blanket from her knapsack before collapsing on it. It was a beautiful summer day—blue sky, chirping cicada, and him, very soon, he will be here. Minako felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier with the summer breeze. Just a nap... just a little nap, she told herself. 9AM really was too early on a Sunday...

He'd said…what was it? "Let's meet back here in a year, and we can talk about all the wonderful things that have happened. Maybe by then, Aino Minako will be a household name. The biggest star there ever was."

He'd squeezed her hand and gave her the biggest, kindest, most un-Yaten like smile she'd ever seen before disappearing in a flash with the rest of the Starlights. One minute she was staring into his green eyes, rimmed gold by the sunset. Then the green disappeared and all that was left was the yolk of the sun, burning tears into her eyes.

When she woke up, she darted up with a fright. Her heart thumped and the breeze felt cool against the perspiration on her forehead. It was high noon and she had no shadow. She silently cursed herself for not bringing an umbrella for the sun. There was so much one could do while waiting. Minako suddenly wished she read books, knitted, or, as she shouted into the void, "you should be here by now!"

Only her echo answered her as she stared far out at the expanse of the sky. Mako-chan would probably laugh at her if she saw her now, forgoing wonderful Sunday brunch to sit on top of a building, waiting for a piece of her imagination.

Did I dream you up? Yaten? When you smiled, did I see the hurt in your eyes? Was there regret? Did you wish we had more time, or did I dream you up? Am I the only one sitting here on a rooftop wishing for something that can never be, that never was?

"To be fair, I'm not due to be back until sunset."

She felt the hand on her shoulder before she heard the voice. The touch was gentle, and the voice, how good it was to hear the voice. She squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief. Could it be?

"Ne, Minako, daijoubu?"

As if on cue, she whirled around to face the owner of the voice—blonde hair flying and blue eyes wide found silver and green. "Ya-Yaten?"

"Ohayou—" he waved a hand, kept the other in his pocket.

He looked more nonchalant than travel weary. No, not the right word. He looked more relaxed than she'd imagined him to be, but there he was, same hair, same eyes, same cocky grin, as if it hadn't been more than 365 days since they'd gone away, as if it was perfectly natural to see him standing there, alive and breathing, in front of her. Minako drew one hand up toward him, and touched his cheek. When he didn't flinch or pull away, she simply said, "You're back."

"Of course I'm back, silly. I said I would," he grabbed the hand that was on his cheek and squeezed it like he had before. "But I don't have a lot of time, Mina. Tell me about how you've been?"

"How long do you have?" she asked in a small voice.

"Until sunset... By then, it will have been months on Kinmoku. Taiki is working on a better way for space travel. He talks about bending space and time, but I'd rather not. I think it's nice that some things we take for granted are completely relative."

"How is Kinmoku? How is everyone?"

"Good, thanks to all of you. When I was leaving, olive trees were blooming, and everything was… just so lush and alive. I never make it far on my walks because I'd see a new plant or tree that I'd swear I've never seen before. Wait, here, I have something for you," he pulled out a small gold photo album from his pocket. "Here, photos say it better than I can."

Minako flipped through the album, and for a moment, felt like she was transported there with him, to a world where golden flowers bloomed, where trees had violet leaves, and sunsets exploded the sky in colors that didn't belong to any spectrum she knew.

"What's this?" she stopped at a photo of a flower in full bloom. It looked like a small planet, round and red with a golden luminescence."

"The dahlia, our prized flower. You see the gold around her? She glows at night in a ring of gold. The only thing is, she's very difficult to grow. A thing of beauty, this one. I found her on top of a mountain not far from the palace."

Photos of people were in the end, and Minako could see that he framed each one with care. There was one of Taiki bending down to his science instruments. Seiya looked mischievous in one, and in another with Kakyuu, blushing furiously. The last one was of Yaten himself, looking peevish with a hand reaching out toward the photographer.

"Seiya took my camera," Yaten laughed. "I thought I'd include this one since that was probably how I looked the entire time on earth, angry and annoyed."

"You didn't look angry and annoyed," she jumped in. "Even if you did, you had a good reason to..."

"Ha, so you agree," he cut in, then shook his head. "No one has a good reason to look affronted all the time. Someone else out there might be suffering more than you and still braving a smile."

She remained quiet, eyes focused on the Yaten in the photo, and then back to the real one in front of her. "You're different, now. Not so unsettled, not so guarded. You laugh a lot more," she smiled. "It's good, it's same with everyone here, Usagi, Rei, Ami, Mako-chan, everyone seems to have finally found a little bit of peace that belongs to them."

Minako closed the photo book, tracing her index finger against a splendid design on the back of a dahlia flower etched in gold. "I'm glad you're all doing so well."

"What about you? Minako?"

"Well, so, like I was saying. We're all good. Mamoru and Usagi are together again. Ami has her books. Rei has the temple, and Makoto opened a bakery," Minako paused, "…and me, well, I'm an idol. Aino Minako, singer, actress, model extraordinaire! You can find me on posters, ads, magazine covers, even. You may want to get my autograph before you leave."

There was a wink, a mischievous smile, a peace sign. She may have overdone it.

Yaten nodded. "Aino Minako. It's a good strong name. Maybe, someday we can collaborate. Kou Yaten and Aino Minako, what do you think?"

She shook her head adamantly. "No no, too many syllables in the end. Definitely Aino Minako and Kou Yaten."

"Really, now," Yaten chuckled.

"Maybe Aino and Kou, or does that sound like a lawyer's office? What do you want to collaborate on anyway?"

"How about you sing and I rap?"

"Eh?" she whipped around to look at him. He kept a very serious expression until she burst out laughing. "I just… I just imagined you…" she tried to calm herself, only to start a fresh peel of giggles. "…Gangsta Yaten…!

"Oiii…." A rather cross looking Yaten folded his arms in protest.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," said Minako, a little breathless. "I'm just… I would just be totally honored. If only, if only…"

She had thought about auditions. Her friends all pushed her to go for it. Go sing. Go dance. Go be a star, Usagi cheered. Mako-chan had even gone as far as to sign her up for an audition and dragged her to shop for the perfect dress. The night before, she went through the song in the dress over and over again in front of the mirror. Yet when morning came, she felt paralyzed, she couldn't do it, and even her beautiful stage dressed seemed to mock her.

"Hey, you okay?" Yaten's hand found her knees, which she was hugging close.

"I couldn't do it, Yaten," she admitted with a sad smile. "I couldn't go to any auditions. I just couldn't do it. Isn't that silly? Now that there is peace, however delicate, however fleeting, it's here, it's right here, but I can't do it. All my life I've been a senshi. I'm used to getting up in the middle of night to chase some stupid villain. I'm used to getting killed and being reborn. I'm so good at it that I don't think I know how to live anymore… I just... I need a purpose."

"No, I don't think you need a purpose. I think you need to do whatever you want. Eat all the ice cream, play as many video games, go on as many dates as you can. Do whatever you want, and if going on auditions aren't what you want, then don't go."

"Eat all the ice cream…?"

"Yep, and when you're finished, you'll know what to do, trust me."

"You don't think I'm just… lazy and pathetic?"

"Minako, you died. Okay? I don't know if you remember, but I do," he fixed his gaze on her. "I think about it everyday, and it still hurts. It wasn't easy, watching someone you care about just fall in front of you, for you."

"It was our duty. You were our friends."

"No, it wasn't just duty, it wasn't. Why me?"

She watched him as his voice grew a littler higher and his eyes a little wild. She had imagined this scene differently. He'd ask that question. Of course he would, and she would talk about honor and duty, love and friendship.

"What do you want me to say, Yaten-kun? You guys are stronger. Saving you would mean a better chance for everyone. I don't know what you want me to say. I've imagined you'd ask me this, so many times, so many, but I…. "

"If I told you, I mean it about the collaboration. I'll come back for good, and we'll make something together. Would that be enough of a purpose?"

He was staring straight ahead when he said this, chin up, eyes determined, and not looking at her. She wasn't sure whether to feel scared or excited.

"What are you talking about, Yaten-kun?" For a fleeting moment, her voice quivered, and she looked at him with questioning eyes. Then she broke into an exaggerated, mischievous smile. "…Will you really rap?"

Yaten brushed a hand through his silver hair, somewhat exasperatedly, but then beamed at her, somewhat resigned. "One of these days, Minako, I'm gonna get through you."

She nodded soberly, then smiled back. She felt it was hurting her face to smile so much. "You know, when I imagined this conversation. It was before you left, and after a kiss."

Yaten's smile faltered, and as he leaned forward and cupped her cheeks with both hands, she knew she must be dreaming again. "Stop thinking about me, Minako. You deserve the world."

And he does kiss her, but only on her forehead, on her cheeks, and on her eyes as she squeezed tears out of them. His kisses were tender and soft like feather, and when she fell into his embrace, she could only cry, "I miss you, Yaten. I miss you so much."

\\\\\\

When Artemis found Minako on the school roof, the sun was setting, and she was curled into a fetal position, asleep with her golden hair spilling onto the small blanket. If he was human, he would have sighed and picked up the golden girl. He would have carried her home and tucked her to bed. But as he was a cat, he could only slip against her stomach, to bring what little warmth he could to her.

Artemis was worried. This was the third time he'd found the girl on the rooftop of Juuban high, and he knew exactly why she was here. Three weeks ago he had found her here, staring despondently at the sunset. He was aware that it had been exactly a year since they'd had left, and she was waiting for him, the silver-haired one. She always fell for the silver-haired ones. Artemis had left her alone that day, trailing her home in silence, but finding her back here the week after and after made him sick at heart. He could feel her sadness growing stronger by the day. She'll snap out of it, he told himself. She always does, and comes back with a smile to break more hearts.

Artemis shifted around and meowed in discomfort. There was something hard rubbing against his hind leg. He swiveled around carefully to find Minako clutching a small book tightly even while asleep—a small golden book with what looked like a dahlia flower, etched on the front and glowing in brilliance.


End file.
